


Waiting is the Hardest Part

by Nny11



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Dependable Barriss, F/F, Femslash February, Pre-Season 5, Start of serious puppy crush, barrissoka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 11:52:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9547955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nny11/pseuds/Nny11
Summary: Barriss has just enough breath left to wonder at her brief introduction to Ahsoka Tano. One Shot that was begging to finally get posted.





	

There were two equally true facts in this case, and Barriss wasn’t sure what to make of them.

The first was that it was simply practical, that was why she’d accepted it in the first place. Ahsoka couldn’t work, see, and hold her lightsaber at the same time.

The second was that Ahsoka had so casually asked Barriss to hold the lightsaber instead. As if they had known each other for years instead of hours, as if Barriss was an old friend instead of a new acquaintance. Watching the younger girl work at her comm, the brief blue-white flashes lighting her face before washing out again left Barriss wondering about Ahsoka.

When she’d walked up the hill with Master Undulli and seen Ahsoka and Knight Skywalker arguing, loudly shouting with hands thrown out and emotions rolling off the two in waves, Barriss had felt a pit in her stomach. This was who she was supposed to work with? Barriss had had reservations already; one couldn’t spend any time with Anakin Skywalker as a padawan and not form an opinion about him. By default that opinion created reservations about his padawan learner. It was petty, and in a way cruel, Barriss had spent time to remind herself that his padawan did not share her master’s behaviors. Stepping foot on Geonosis again had been difficult enough, worrying about her upcoming missions had been difficult enough. Seeing them arguing and gesticulating like a pair of enraged monkeys had almost been too much. Immediately after they departed the base camp Barriss could only wonder when Ahsoka would complain about the mission, demand they do something different, refuse to follow a more experienced learner—the list went on really.

Much to her surprise, Ahsoka hadn’t done anything. At all. She had listened to Barriss with the same intensity that Barriss listened to knights, she asked questions to clarify and not to argue, and she did as told with a level of professionalism that Barriss had not expected. Honestly she’d felt rather guilty about letting a preconceived notion dictate her perceptions of her fellow padawan so badly. Master Undulli had told her about the mission with Nute Gunray, and had warned her that Ahsoka could be a handful. But Master Undulli had also told her to watch and listen closely because Padawan Tano was equally perceptive. So she had.

In the tank, buried under who knew how much rock and rubble, Ahsoka had continued to surprise her. Kindness, humor, creativity, and dedication. And…and very open trust.

Who asked another to hold their lightsaber, to hold something so much a part of them? The force worked through their crystal and then through the jedi, linking the two and changing them both in the process. Ahsoka’s lightsaber was surprisingly light, it made Barriss feel like a youngling holding a practice saber for the first time. Anticipation for something unknown but wonderful. As unexpected as the request was, it was also a request that Barriss was unsure she would have made if their roles had been reversed. When Barriss was without her lightsaber it felt like an open wound that wouldn’t heal, the edges always pulling slightly. Master Undulli was the only person who had ever held her lightsaber outside of quick repair or a cursory inspection. Even then Barriss could feel a muted fear that she’d never have that piece of her back again.

Pulling out of what was essentially a light meditative state Ahsoka’s motions began to slow. The air felt hot and thick, their breathing was shallow as they fought to get enough oxygen in. Out of air long before starving indeed. Ahsoka looked at her, eyes brimming and filled with frustration, and Barriss felt something snap into place. Powering down her own saber she reached out her hand, the words wouldn’t come as she pushed support and gratitude through the force. Surviving was no longer in their power to control, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t hope.

With only the green light they sat, hunched and clinging to each other. Her glove was warm and rough against Barriss’s palm, her frustration slipping away. Barriss offered the last kindness she could and reached into the force. “Sleep Ahsoka, I’ll wake you when they arrive.”

A simple force suggestion and her companion faded. Barriss squeezed her hand and lifted her eyes up, waiting for the future to come with Ahsoka’s life still held in her hands. She wouldn’t fail this, she couldn’t.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh irony, can you leave me alone to my happy place for two seconds? Thanks bud.


End file.
